George Scott has confirmed the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is ‘Plan A’ for Bay City Roller, provided the going is on the soft side.
The New Bay colt has proved himself to be a high class proposition when the mud is flying. It took him seven races to get off the mark last season, beating Tiffany seven-lengths in a German Group 1.
He proved that was no fluke this season, finishing second in the Tattersalls Gold Cup. He then took his form to a new level, winning the Coronation Cup by 10 lengths. It was a scintillating performance, and he had a deserved rest over the summer, prior to returning earlier this month.
Bay City Roller was just shy of two lengths behind Daryz in the Prix Foy, with both horses entitled to come for the run.
George Scott told the Press Association, via At The Races: “The horse is training beautifully, we couldn’t be happier with him. There has just been a little bit of rain come in the forecast. I think with the weather forecast for like 10 days you can predict. Anything after that is a little bit of a lottery. But literally in the last 24 hours they’ve been showing some rain in Paris.
“Our Plan A is absolutely to go to Paris for the Arc. But we won’t be running if it’s watered ground – it has to be soft enough so that they’re not having to water. Otherwise we’ll go to the Champion Stakes and then the Breeders’ Cup.”
Busy Autumn campaign for ‘hardy’ Bay City Roller
While he is ground dependent at the top level, George Scott isn’t afraid to keep Bay City Roller busy. Scott continued: “I don’t really want to take him to France and not run. He’d leave on the Friday morning. So you’ll probably have a pretty good idea by then and if there’s rain swirling round he’ll travel. But I feel quite relaxed about Plan B. I love that idea of running in the Champion Stakes if the ground was soft because you wouldn’t necessarily see Ombudsman or Calandagan.”
Scott further suggested that running in both contests could be a possibility, provided appropriate underfoot conditions. “100 per cent. Last year his best run was in Germany which came off the back of running two weeks, two weeks, two weeks almost – he’s a hardy horse.”